April Fools Day is Thursday. Its is a popular day for pranksters and web sites to publish bogus news but its also the time when less fun motivated people like to try their hand at launching trojans (malware which waits for a certain condition) to launch. These attacks usually target Windows users While the chances of anything happening are remote, just to be on the safe side make sure of the following:
* Make sure all Windows Updates have been installed.
* Update your virus definitions and run a full system scan.
* Ensure you have a firewall protecting your system/network.
* Keep an eye out for any suspicious activity over the next few days.
Chances are all will be well, but keep your eyes open for anything suspicious, think before you click!
Monday 29 March 2010
Sunday 28 March 2010
Tuesday 16 March 2010
Microsoft previews Internet Explorer 9 - and it promises to add new technologies that may make it one of the most advanced browsers out there. No, really.
Among the elements that Microsoft is touting are SVGcapability, background compiled Javascript for greater speed, and HTML5 integration, so enter the ability to play Youtube videos and the like without flash. Could be handy!
Full article at http://ping.fm/SjJND
Among the elements that Microsoft is touting are SVGcapability, background compiled Javascript for greater speed, and HTML5 integration, so enter the ability to play Youtube videos and the like without flash. Could be handy!
Full article at http://ping.fm/SjJND
Saturday 6 March 2010
Friday 5 March 2010
Ever watch the news reports about Iraq and the Middle East and thought that its easy to fool and confuse relatively primitive and unsophisticated Iraqis and Iranians? Time to add Joe Average in the US of Ignorance to the list.... Mainly down below what Robin Williams once described as the "Manson/Nixon" line the good ol' boys have been cleaning their M16s and dusting off Dixie in response to the Obama administrations social initiatives.
While it may all feel very Bo and Luke Duke, their Hazard County rednecks are logging onto the net and getting their conspiracy theories right from the headless horse's mouth and the Internet is right at the heart of all the conspiracies theories and dire warnings of disaster which Abner and Leroy are finding so appealling. And of course since this is the land of a hundred million guns and a place where hunters can own armour piercing bullets for hunting the protests are not a polite march on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and a signed petition.
A recent news report claimed a 250% rise in 'patriot' groups with a rise in in anti-government extremist groups and armed militias. All this driven by increasing worries about the economy and the increasing propagation of conspiracy theories by parts of the mass media such as Fox News.
The Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC),a prominent civil rights group in their report entitled "Rage on the Right", say the rise in right wing is "a cause for grave concern" given their propensity to use violence. They reported that "...patriot groups have been fuelled by anger over the changing demographics of the country, the soaring public debt, the troubled economy and an array of initiatives by President Obama that have been branded "socialist" or even "fascist" by his political opponents," (Nice to know the good ol' boys are egalitarian in the paranoia, at least!)
Since the installation of Barack Obama, right wing extremists have murdered six law enforcement officers. One man (For UK bloggers read insane gun toting nutjob who would probably be locked up in a civilised country) told police he had learned on white supremacist websites that a genocide was under way against whites and then murdered two black people and planned to kill as many Jews as possible on the day after Obama's inauguration. Of course Obama's government can't win, if they respond to these lunatics they are accused of pursuing their left wing agenda, which in the states usually means taking guns away and possibly allowing ill people to use hospital even if they don't have money! If they do nothing they are tacitly endorsing the situation.
The truth is that like "foreign" countries the USA also has its contingent of ignorant, easily led natives more than willing to believe anything they their instinct tell them to be true and in the 21st century the internet can feed this sort of information far faster and with much more content than ever before. The current climate appeals to the apocalypse maybe gang and you can bet that even as I type this survivalists are sharing stories of the best way to cache food and shoot black people in a way that suits Youtube video formats.
For Barack its likely to be a hard struggle to wins the hearts of minds of people whose politcal views are still enshrouded in the values and attitudes 19th Century.
While it may all feel very Bo and Luke Duke, their Hazard County rednecks are logging onto the net and getting their conspiracy theories right from the headless horse's mouth and the Internet is right at the heart of all the conspiracies theories and dire warnings of disaster which Abner and Leroy are finding so appealling. And of course since this is the land of a hundred million guns and a place where hunters can own armour piercing bullets for hunting the protests are not a polite march on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and a signed petition.
A recent news report claimed a 250% rise in 'patriot' groups with a rise in in anti-government extremist groups and armed militias. All this driven by increasing worries about the economy and the increasing propagation of conspiracy theories by parts of the mass media such as Fox News.
The Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC),a prominent civil rights group in their report entitled "Rage on the Right", say the rise in right wing is "a cause for grave concern" given their propensity to use violence. They reported that "...patriot groups have been fuelled by anger over the changing demographics of the country, the soaring public debt, the troubled economy and an array of initiatives by President Obama that have been branded "socialist" or even "fascist" by his political opponents," (Nice to know the good ol' boys are egalitarian in the paranoia, at least!)
Since the installation of Barack Obama, right wing extremists have murdered six law enforcement officers. One man (For UK bloggers read insane gun toting nutjob who would probably be locked up in a civilised country) told police he had learned on white supremacist websites that a genocide was under way against whites and then murdered two black people and planned to kill as many Jews as possible on the day after Obama's inauguration. Of course Obama's government can't win, if they respond to these lunatics they are accused of pursuing their left wing agenda, which in the states usually means taking guns away and possibly allowing ill people to use hospital even if they don't have money! If they do nothing they are tacitly endorsing the situation.
The truth is that like "foreign" countries the USA also has its contingent of ignorant, easily led natives more than willing to believe anything they their instinct tell them to be true and in the 21st century the internet can feed this sort of information far faster and with much more content than ever before. The current climate appeals to the apocalypse maybe gang and you can bet that even as I type this survivalists are sharing stories of the best way to cache food and shoot black people in a way that suits Youtube video formats.
For Barack its likely to be a hard struggle to wins the hearts of minds of people whose politcal views are still enshrouded in the values and attitudes 19th Century.
Tuesday 2 March 2010
Think you've been given the chance to sign up as an iPad tester via Facebook? Not a chance mate! Its a nasty little scam which will end up with you being sign to a premium rate mobile service. This warning is coming from Sophos, the Internet security people.
According to Sophos here is how the scam is worked: Here's how it works. 1) You are invited to "Become a Fan" of the page; 2) "Invite your friends" to also become fans of the page, and take part in the "special promotion" 3) "Claim" or "Apply" for your prize.
Some of the pages pretend to have thousands of positive comments from other Facebook users claiming that the offer is genuine, Sophos notes. And it's also running on Twitter - so beware there of people or accounts offering "Free Apple iPad!" or similar. Bit of a clue here is that Apple haven't actually started to sell the Ipad and won't until April.
When the victim applies for the prize they are typically taken to an online quiz, and their mobile phone number is requested so they can be sent the results. Doing that will sign you up for a premium rate service, costing you in the region of £8 every week. The scammers who created the fake iPad Facebook pages are undoubtedly skimming off some of this money by bringing new unwitting subscribers to the cellphone service.
If something looks too good to be true then generally it is. This has been a public service information blog. :-)
Here's a Youtube video on the subject.
According to Sophos here is how the scam is worked: Here's how it works. 1) You are invited to "Become a Fan" of the page; 2) "Invite your friends" to also become fans of the page, and take part in the "special promotion" 3) "Claim" or "Apply" for your prize.
Some of the pages pretend to have thousands of positive comments from other Facebook users claiming that the offer is genuine, Sophos notes. And it's also running on Twitter - so beware there of people or accounts offering "Free Apple iPad!" or similar. Bit of a clue here is that Apple haven't actually started to sell the Ipad and won't until April.
When the victim applies for the prize they are typically taken to an online quiz, and their mobile phone number is requested so they can be sent the results. Doing that will sign you up for a premium rate service, costing you in the region of £8 every week. The scammers who created the fake iPad Facebook pages are undoubtedly skimming off some of this money by bringing new unwitting subscribers to the cellphone service.
If something looks too good to be true then generally it is. This has been a public service information blog. :-)
Here's a Youtube video on the subject.
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